The Silence of Our Hearts
by True China Sorrows
Summary: He was killing himself. He knew it, but there was no other choice; no other option.
1. Chapter 1

The Silence of Our Hearts

It was an unspoken, unwritten rule that Kaiba and his Blue Eyes White Dragon cards were not to be parted. It was common knowledge: even to the public. Recently, it had come to hold more and more truth. The man seemed to be turning deranged. He had begun to frequently chase away his employees, cancel meetings and lock himself in his office, emerging only when he deemed it right.

The rumours were spreading as swiftly as they were thought up. It was bad for business.

Still, Kaiba sat at his desk, chin resting on his clasped hands as he stared intently at one of his Blue Eyes White Dragon cards. The blinds were drawn shut; the emergency protocol heat cloaking system had been turned on; the sound proofing had been activated. He wanted complete isolation. He would have it no other way.

His eyes closed to blink, remaining closed for longer than usual. When he opened them once more there was an apparent weariness. Dark circles were beginning to form. He ignored it. He ignored it all. He had to. It was the only way.

His arms slipped slightly. Eyes closed, he groaned quietly. He was desperate to sleep. He hadn't rested properly in weeks, months perhaps. His hands loosened too as he began to pull himself up once more.

"Stop it, Seto,"

He jolted up, eyes flying wide. His weariness had been forgotten. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound was allowed forth.

"This is too much," the glowing silhouette of a pale woman standing on the other side of his desk chided. "How can you do this to yourself? Please, Seto, stop this. You need to rest."

"No," he responded immediately. "I need to know. I need to find you."

A spark lit her eyes. She almost seemed touched, excited. It was quelled quickly. The sorrow engulfed her, lessening the glow. She lowered her head, eyes glancing to the floor.

Her voice was low and subdued. "I… I can't see… It's so dark…"

Seto could feel his shoulders slump. It had been so long. They had both tried so hard. It was impossible not to feel deflated.

"Ah," she gasped, her hands flying up for inspection. "No. Not now, please, not now."

Her words failed to dissuade the great power that had brought her to Seto. She was fading, dissipating. Her entire body was vanishing.

"Wait!" he had leaped to his feet. "Wait! Where are you?"

"I…" she looked up, eyes wide with terror. "I don't know! I don't know!"

This could be the final time. She had no understanding of an afterlife. She had no knowledge of any future appearances.

"You'll find out! You have to know!" he shouted. Another spark lit her eyes. "What is it? Say it again! Kisara!"

The room was reduced to darkness – as it always was when she vanished.


	2. Chapter 2

The Silence of Our Hearts

Kaiba slumped onto his bedroom desk. His eyes burned with over use. He was bone weary and aching from the stillness of his posture in that room. He despised it. It had three weeks since he had last seen Kisara. The worst part was that her visitations were often more sparsely spread. Still, he waited. He snorted derisively, feeling as though he was always waiting as of late.

The glass doors rattled with a sudden gust of wind. The curtains rustled and slats of moonlight fell upon his deck. Kaiba stared at it. His Blue Eyes White Dragon was at the top. The image captured the light beautifully. He turned more in its direction; wondering if it was Kisara; if she was caught within the card.

He pushed away from the desk and towards a small chest of drawers. The uppermost cupboard – second from the left – was forced open. In it, there lay a small, hand bound leather notebook. He lifted it out and paced towards the window. The paper within was crafted using ancient methods. It felt grainy, rough, but it was a good quality and preserved his words expertly.

He flicked through until he had reached page number twenty seven. The uppermost edge had been folded in.

_**29.01.**_

_**I was scheduled to meet with Pegasus when I noticed a strange light emanating from the area of my deck. Wary of it being a trap, I sent my secretary out to call back my bodyguards. When I turned back there was a girl – the one I had seen in 'ancient Egypt'. She seemed to have been expecting me.**_

He scowled, flipping through further pages.

_**19.02.**_

_**She came again. It was mid-day. Our meeting lasted approximately six minutes. The clock was malfunctioning once she had gone.**_

_**She was worried about my health. She insisted that I take better care of myself. Our meeting was wasted with her fussing.**_

_**However, she did say something. Just as she was vanishing, she had tried to speak. I couldn't make it all out. It seems as though there is a connection to something here.**_

He scanned through the other pages quickly, not focusing on anything in particular – until the third last page. That meeting had occurred thirteen months earlier.

_**14.12**_

_**Kisara fought it. When she began to fade, she cried out. Her hands stretched for something to hold or push against. She was seeing things that I couldn't. She was fighting something that I couldn't see. As she fought, she tried to tell me things.**_

_**This time I heard her. I heard enough;**_

_Don't go beyond the edge._

_Don't take me to that place, please._

_I need to stay here._

_I need to know._

_He needs to know._

_Let me say it._

_You have to let me say it._

_The rainbow … is going_

The notebook snapped shut. Kaiba stared out of the window. The moon seemed unusually large. He didn't trust it. He trusted very little these days.


	3. Chapter 3

The Silence of Our Hearts

Kaiba peered down at the glimmering rooftops of Domino. A suitcase sat by his side, rattling every now and then. He spared it a glance. It was the custodian of a great and wonderful secret. He hoped to keep to himself for chance of being ridiculed as delusional. He had come to acquire a faint understanding that all was not as it seemed.

"Kaiba," a wary voice called. "You are not authorised to be in the air. You are in the route of a plane."

He responded sharply. "I know."

The dark circles beneath his eyes had faded. They were almost imperceptible. He had tried to sleep well over the last few days and – while his efforts proved mostly fruitless – he was now confident enough in his abilities. For the sake of success, however, he had _forgotten_ to tell anyone else.

The voice crackled. There seemed to a rampant frenzy. Kaiba smirked, pressed a button and was met with the simple rumbling of his jet. He drew away to the right so as not to collide with the plane that he was warned of. However, being Seto Kaiba, he already knew that he had been following a route.

That was why he had been surprised. Just five days previously, wallowing at the desk in his bedroom, willing for her to return once more, he had been stunned by a sudden revelation – a revelation that made him feel foolish for not having earlier. Egypt was his strongest link, thus, he would go.

The suitcase rattled again: louder. He spared it a glance. His Blue Eyes White Dragon cards were also inside and he was not prepared to part from them; especially as of late. He tried to settle back to the plain view of Domino and a knot of dread tightened in his stomach. Then, the radio crackled as if in ominous warning.

_Seto_

Something beeped. It – along with the voice in his head – pulled him fully into the waking world. A red light flashed. He sighed. It was be suicide to go any further. He had to land. As he changed the gears another thought rose up in the back of his mind; _is this not meant to be?_


	4. Chapter 4

The Silence of Our Hearts

"Seto, this is wrong."

He glanced at her. "No."

She fixed her gaze on him. A deep, defiant strength touched her expression. The hint of a blaze flickered in her eyes.

"Yes," she insisted. "It is. Look at you. They will declare you mentally unstable from stress. After that…"

She looked away, but the fire only burned brighter.

Kaiba straightened up and clasped his hands. His walls were high around his emotions. She wouldn't see past them. No one would.

In the moments where she was glaring at the door, Kaiba allowed a slight fondness to permeate his gaze. He cared for her more than he would admit. It had been his foolish arrogance, his thirst for knowledge and power that had caused him to pursue her at first. She had somehow crept into his heart, and he didn't know how.

He didn't like not knowing.

"Kisara," he spoke quietly. "If they take me, will I see you again?"

She was almost insulted. "I _am_ real, Seto. I am not a dream or a hallucination."

He gestured to the three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards. "Will I need these?"

She hopped down from a wooden cabinet. The simple movement made her shine more dazzling.

She had not been able to interact with her surroundings before. She had not noticed, but he did. He noticed everything about her.

"Seto, tell me," she demanded quietly. "What do you intend to do? I am not going to stand here with words of comfort and worry if you have some scheme."

Both automatically looked to the suitcase sitting innocuously at the side of the room.

He leaned back comfortably. "One word, please."

She tilted her head to the side: anger gone. "… Shadows… Like starless nights… Nothing more than usual…"

He nodded in understanding. His frustration had reached intolerable levels. However, he had vowed to remain calm until she had vanished entirely.

"Wait!" she gasped. "Voices… There are voices! So distant, so far…"

Kisara winced. A wealth of pain filled her. She wrapped her arms about herself and began to fade. It was quick. He had no time to call out for her.


End file.
